Harper Voyager Impulse US Open Submission Window Nov. 2-6 2015

lizmonster

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(Haven't seen this posted yet. Mods, forgive me if this is a dup!)

HarperVoyager Impulse US is hosting an open submissions window for five days - November 2 to 6. According to the submissions page:

While we're always on the lookout for full-length fantasy, science fiction, and horror, we're really in the market now for Urban Fantasy and Military Sci-Fi.

(Actually, although the web page title says Harper Voyager Impulse, the text says HarperVoyager US, so I'm not sure if this is an Impulse-only open sub.)
 
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waylander

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The word count range of 60-90k seems rather short.
 

phantasy

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I've a question... if you submit your books straight to a publisher and they reject it, does that mean, once you get an agent, that the agent can't send the book to that publisher anymore? Or at least for awhile?
 

phantasy

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I guess I can't submit because my word count is far over their limit. It makes sense for UF, but not for most kinds of epic fantasy.
 

rwm4768

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I think they're looking for urban fantasy and military science fiction, where that kind of word count isn't all that short.
 

Roxxsmom

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Wow, a 90k cut off for fantasy. Definitely won't work for mine. I have a friend who's published two with HV, and they're both short as fantasy novels go, but still over 100,000 words each. This person is agented, though, so maybe they have different rules for work submitted via that route. I suspect that means they're not that interested in epic type stuff anyway.

So much for all those people insisting UF is "dead," eh?
 
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RetsReds

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I've a question... if you submit your books straight to a publisher and they reject it, does that mean, once you get an agent, that the agent can't send the book to that publisher anymore? Or at least for awhile?

Well, I guess the agent can send the book, just not with very high chances for success. At the very least, tell the agent so that if he/she decides to submit he/she knows how best to approach the situation.

As for the word count - yeah, it's a bit short for epic fantasy. My When They Shine Brightest is 93k so I hope they're still interested, but if they're mainly looking at UF & Mil Sci-Fi, they'll probably ignore everything else regardless of the size.
 

PeteMC

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I've a question... if you submit your books straight to a publisher and they reject it, does that mean, once you get an agent, that the agent can't send the book to that publisher anymore? Or at least for awhile?

I would imagine so, yes. If they didn't want it direct they probably won't want it from an agent either, unless of course it was rejected by a slush reader the first time and the agent knows the actual editor would have loved it had they got to see it.

So much for all those people insisting UF is "dead," eh?

It'd better not be, I've got one coming out in January!
 

lauralam

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It might just be a rough guideline about word counts. You could probably ask them if that's set in stone or not?

And yes, if it's subbed through this and rejected, an agent would likely not submit again to the same publisher unless the novel's gone through a really big overhaul. They'd focus on the places that haven't seen it, first.
 

waylander

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Having been told at last year's Worldcon that US editors don't want UF with non-US settings, I wonder whether it is worth anyone outside the US subbing UF to this.
 

Aggy B.

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I've a question... if you submit your books straight to a publisher and they reject it, does that mean, once you get an agent, that the agent can't send the book to that publisher anymore? Or at least for awhile?

Different publishers handle this a little differently. Carina (for instance) will only reject a MS once - whether it comes from an author or through an agent - even if a different editor expresses interest later.

Some of the bigger publishers will consider it if you are showing it to a different editor. Which is tricky, because most author-submissions don't know if an editor actually looked at it and if they did, who it was. So an agent could possibly show your book to the same publisher, if they knew a specific editor who was looking for that type of thing, but only if they knew that editor hadn't already rejected it. (And only if the publisher allows multiple editors to look at the same project. The reason for allowing this is usually because something could have been pitched incorrectly - given to an editor who likes UF when in reality it should have been shown to someone looking for horror.) But it's rare for an agent to pitch the same book to the same imprint more than once, regardless of whether they know multiple editors who might be interested.

Heavy revisions might mean they would consider it (or an editor might reconsider it) but in general it's not something you want to gamble on.

Just to be clear though, HarperCollins has multiple imprints that publish SF/F. Voyager Impulse is just the digital first imprint and the only one that opens for unagented subs (however briefly).
 

summontherats

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They're open for submissions now!

I'm on the fence here--they're explicitly interested in UF and military SF, and even have a button that reads "My manuscript is the correct genre for this open call." This, plus the fact they imply that they may have other open calls for other genres, makes me think that it might not be the best idea to submit something that doesn't fall under those, even though the form lets you choose other subgenres.

Should this be treated like only an UF/military call?
 
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VEHust

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I feel like this might be a UF/Military call only. The wording seems very purposeful and direct without stating don't send blah. I think I'll wait for another open sub time to send in anything.
 

ironmikezero

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I'm in as of today (Nov. 3). A writer (Kent) asked in the comment section of the site about subs that might exceed the word count, but HV never responded to him. I added a comment noting that, and suggested we assume the word count was merely a guideline rather than a mandate. I'm not really trying to poke a stick at a hornets' nest, but we'll see . . . BTW, my sub was 106K words. :poke:
 

summontherats

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I'm in as of today (Nov. 3). A writer (Kent) asked in the comment section of the site about subs that might exceed the word count, but HV never responded to him. I added a comment noting that, and suggested we assume the word count was merely a guideline rather than a mandate. I'm not really trying to poke a stick at a hornets' nest, but we'll see . . . BTW, my sub was 106K words. :poke:

Looks like your comment prompted a response from them. Ouch. :\

It needs to be no longer than 90,000 words.
 

mistri

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Anyone who has a book at the Hodder open call submitting to this? I don't think I'll get a rejection back in time, but seeing as the odds are so low I wonder if I should just submit anyway. It's set in the UK though so maybe another strike against me.
 
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Myrealana

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Firm 90K, huh? I could cut 5K from my book, but not by Friday. Probably not, anyway. If only they didn't require the whole manuscript.

Anyone who has a book at the Hodder open call submitting to this? I don't think I'll get a rejection back in time, but seeing as the odds are so low I wonder if I should just submit anyway. It's set in the UK though so maybe another strike against me.
I don't see where either of them forbids simultaneous submission. Even if Hodderscape doesn't get back to you, that shouldn't stop you from entering this one.
 
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ObadiahSlope

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I haven't seen their public response but I wrote to them separately and asked can it be over 90k? I received a reply stating yes, it can, but it depends on how much over and other editorial factors - so there is some flexibility, or at least there was yesterday! ;)